Reading the “Star Trek” script, though, Saldana was able to find a rationalization that fit the characters. Uhura is self-assured, with “a swagger to her that was absolutely sensuous but confident […] she was definitely very determined and a very strong woman and really wanted to be on that Enterprise and be the xenolinguistics expert since she was like five years old,” Saldana opined. She’s drawn to Spock, who despite his emotionless facade is more vulnerable than Kirk.
“[Spock] is half human, half Vulcan, at some point if he was only going to be a Vulcan man, then why even make him half-human? You are constantly waiting for him to break. It is that battle that makes Spock who he is.”
No matter the century, women never stop thinking, “I can fix him.”
The late Nichelle Nichols was split on the decision too. On one hand, she didn’t find it consistent with the character she played and said as much in a 2014 Reddit Ask Me Anything:
“[Spock and Uhura] wouldn’t have happened back in the original series, Uhura was a private person with a personal life separate from the rest of the crew […] Any serious fan who saw the original series would know it would not have been possible, they’d laugh their heads off.”
However, during a 2010 fan Q&A published by StarTrek.com, Nichols acknowledged that Saldana’s Uhura was younger and on her first high-stakes mission. Such experiences get the emotions and adrenaline flowing. She also felt it made sense since Spock and Uhura are both serious and private people. The only ones they can open up to are each other:
“[Uhura] shined [Kirk] off, but Spock fascinated her, her serious side. Now, this is me making my story on what happened, but he saw in her his human side and she touched a side of him that they were supposedly discreet about.”